'Bless you for posting': Facebook group reunites tornado victims with photos, documents

This photo was posted on Facebook by Glen Adkisson after tornadoes struck Oklahoma on Monday. "This was in our yard 5/20/2013...Collinsville," he wrote.

By F. Brinley Bruton, Staff Writer, NBC News

The photo shows a baby in diapers on a high chair gazing at a white cake with one pink candle.

Glen Adkisson of Collinsville, Okla., posted on Facebook that it had been found "in our yard" following Monday's devastating tornadoes.

Allison Messer via Facebook

This photo was posted on Facebook by Allison Messer after a tornado struck Oklahoma, with the message "Found in our pasture between Stroud & Depew. Would love to find the momma this belongs too."

The message below reads: "This photo is of my sisters deceased husband when he was a child. We are from Shawnee Oklahoma. She did live in the trailer park. She and my 7 year old nephew lost their home. I will try to contact u va Facebook. Bless you for posting this!"

Early Tuesday, the page included hundreds of family photos and documents. A picture of a cat with one blue eye sat next to another of a woman in a camp chair holding two blond and grinning children. A grimy electricity bill was next to the stained photograph of a toddler sitting on Santa's knee. An ultrasound photo showed what appeared to be a baby in utero.

Some postings had happy endings, with pets and pictures being reunited with their families.

Becky Miller, one of the page’s administrators, knew the photos and documents that landed on the ground as so-called falling debris, might look like detritus but were in fact irreplaceable artifacts or documents for somebody.

This photo was posted on Facebook by Kristi Hodge after a tornado struck Oklahoma with the message "Found 2 miles south of Ramona at 815 PM floating from the sky."

“People had falling debris 100 miles away – people were saying it is raining debris in the yard,” said the resident of Liberty, Okla., which isabout two hours away from Oklahoma City. “That’s what started it. I wanted people reunited with precious pictures or colored pictures – you can’t replace those in a disaster.”

Indeed, Jeremy-Trista Blevins posted a ripped picture of three children – the smallest a bald and smiling baby – that she says she found in Sand Spring, 119 miles from where the hurricane struck.

The page, which was started by Leslie Edgar Hagelberg, Miller’s cousin, and her sister, Sarah Miller-Deibert, quickly turned into a sort of clearing house, attracting others trying to help those in need.

"3 dogs rescued from Moore tornado! Bathed, and cared for at rescuers home. Want to reunite them back with their families," the message with the photo read. "Prayer to all our furry friends and families."

Erin Lang via Facebook

Erin Lang posted this photo on Facebook after Monday's tornado in Moore, Okla., writing: "3 dogs rescued from Moore tornado! Bathed, and cared for at rescuers home. Want to reunite them back with their families. Please spread the word and contact Erin Lang or Carey Ralstin on Facebook! Prayer to all our furry friends and families."

And down the page another message from Farah Payton-Snider declared: "The black Lab is my (friend's)... dog Tin. Please call me ASAP."

Payton-Snider, 36, said she would close her flower shop and head into Oklahoma City first thing in the morning to try and help reunite people who had been hit by the tornado with their pets.

"I feel helpless, I want to be able to do something," said Payton-Snider, who lives in Newcastle, Okla.